Tag Archives: Americans

An anti-police riot, Islamic terror attacks and a massive increase in the numbers of immigrants all add to America’s growing racial strains. In spite of all this, the Establishment continues its rapid push for a dramatic increase in the numbers of non-whites and the end of conservative white America.

The terror attacks at the weekend did not result in any fatalities but were an unpleasant experience for people in three states. More will certainly come. The result will likely be a swing to the right politically.

Bret Stephens, a former editor of the Jerusalem Post, who now writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal, observed this week that “as terrorist attacks become more common, tolerance for liberal pieties will wane.”

England was the first country to react with the anti-foreigner Brexit vote; Germany has voted in three regional elections in the last few weeks, each time rejecting the liberal immigration policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel; now the US is set to vote. It will be a close election, but Donald Trump has the advantage when it comes to security. Neither Mrs. Clinton nor President Obama can utter the words “radical Islam” and, following three terror attacks at the weekend, both are calling for more Muslim immigration.

In Germany, the AfD (Alternative for Deutschland Party), with an anti-immigrant program, gained the most in regional elections. Some are saying that this is reminiscent of the 1930’s, that the AfD is composed of neo-Nazis. Note the following from the London Daily Mail:

“Are the anti-immigration AfD exactly the same as the Nazis? No, of course not. And it would be a mistake to write off all their voters as racists or extremists.

Many of them are ordinary, working-class Germans, alarmed by the influx of so many newcomers and by the reports of sexual assaults in cities such as Munich and Cologne. In that respect, they are not so different from the 3.8 million people who voted for UKIP in our last general election.

Well, up to a point. For what’s truly disturbing is that AfD officials tried to book a rally in Munich’s Hofbräukeller, the beer hall where Hitler gave his first speech as a member of the Nazi Party in October 1919.

And they have also tried to revive the word ‘volkisch’ — conjuring up folksy images of the country’s home-grown culture — which the Nazis used to set Germans apart from their supposed racial inferiors.” (Dominic Sandbrook).

Clearly, the current invasion is having a dramatic effect on domestic politics.

In the Muslim world, most people believe the West is at war with Islam. Long memories of the Crusades, when western Christendom was at war with Islam for two centuries, continue to drive national direction – Israel is “the crusader state,” the modern equivalent of the medieval Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem established by the Crusaders in the eleventh century.

The Muslims are not the only ones driven by history. Central Europeans are mostly against taking in refugees. They remember that Islamists got to the gates of Vienna as recently as 1683. The Siege of Vienna took place on September 11th of that year, resulting in the defeat of the Muslims by the next day. It was the end of another push for the destruction of Christianity by Islam. It’s interesting to note that the re-emergence of extremist Sunni Islam appeared on the same date, September 11th, 2001. A message was clearly being sent: “we’re back – and this time we will defeat you.” Their goal is the destruction of the West.

And how does the West react? With compromise. “Let’s bring them all to America and they will change!!!” The naivety is sometimes astounding, but it shows just how deeply entrenched is the ideal of multiculturalism. Here’s a few lines from Bloomberg News in an editorial from today’s Lansing State Journal: “Refugees go to the considerable strain of moving to the US because they seek opportunities to work hard and improve their lives. Thus, they can be a boon to their new communities – creating jobs, stabilizing shrinking school districts, revitalizing blighted neighborhoods, and helping communities thrive”. Think about the stabilization of shrinking school districts – with a higher birthrate, Islam would soon be the dominant religion in many of our schools.

These statements are at variance with former Muslim writer, Salman Rushdie who addressed an audience in New York on C-Span. He pointed out that when a Muslim moves from the Middle East to Detroit, he is NOT looking to better himself and take advantage of the American way of life. Rather, he sees himself as part of the advance guard to spread Islam to America.” On a television news program yesterday, Muslims in the Minneapolis area (mostly Somalis) were stopped and asked if they liked the US or would prefer to live in a Muslim country. Every single one said they would prefer to live in a Muslim country.

The Bloomberg article ended with this message of compromise: “On the other hand, consider the costs of denying entry to any more Syrian refugees. It would feed Islamic State’s narrative that the US is anti-Muslim, and weaken America’s global leadership.”

In other words, we must just lie down and play dead. Let the invasion continue!

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There are enough racial problems at home, without inviting more into the country. A few nights of rioting in Charlotte, North Carolina, started with the death of another African-American male at the hands of the police. Hardly mentioned by the liberal US media was the fact that the shooter was a black police office. The BBC, to its shame, did not mention it, for over 24 hours.

High rates of unemployment amongst African-Americans deserve a mention in the context of the ratcheted up rate of immigration by refugees – the Syrians will be helped to find jobs by government agencies, at the expense of mostly black Americans and Hispanics. Clearly, Democrats feel secure with their non-white base, even as they make life harder for them!

President Obama has also shown his “racist” side by badgering blacks to vote for Hillary, claiming he will feel personally insulted if they vote for Trump. This reminds me of one of the he worst aspects of African politics, when a tribal chief tells everybody in the tribe who to vote for – it makes democracy impossible.

The race to end white America, traditional America, is speeding up. Soon whites will be a minority, which is what Senator Edward Kennedy had in mind back in 1965 when he sponsored a new Immigration bill. At the time he promised that it would not change the demographics in the country.

Today, Friday, it has been revealed that the Obama Administration has instructed the FBI to rush through approval for citizenship for those entering the country from sensitive (i.e. Middle Eastern) areas. This will give the Democrats more votes and is a clear sign that politics comes before what’s best for the country. A further 110,000 refugees from the Middle east will start arriving October 1st. Already 85,000 have arrived this fiscal year (USA Today 9/15).

Perhaps Mr. Obama is feeling guilty. Having badly let down Syria, he now wants to give a home to many Syrians as possible, even though some are likely to be terrorists. ISIS has said more than once that it is sending its soldiers to Europe and America alongside the refugees.

There is clearly no true security in this world when our leaders make some irrational decisions.

It’s not surprising that I’ve received an invitation from the local police to attend a “Safety and Security” seminar for area churches. With an influx of people from the Middle East where attacks on churches have been routine, plus the additional factor of homegrown terrorists, churches need to boost security.

Christians should not lose heart faced with these growing threats. Rather, we should be encouraged by the words of the Apostle Paul:

“and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7).

I’ve not been able to write much recently. This is due to the fact that we moved house on Sunday. Or, rather, I should say we moved the big, heavy items with the help of younger men from our church. For a month before that, we were moving small items ourselves. Now, we still have to clear out our old house. We have a few more days to do that and then things should get back to normal. (Why is my wife laughing hysterically . . . ?)

Moving house later in life is more difficult. Not only is lifting harder, especially after two major back surgeries and my wife’s cancer surgery. But also we have accumulated more. So this has been an opportunity to get rid of some things. We still have a long way to go, though. We must keep working on it.

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President Obama is in England as I write. He’s upset a lot of people by urging the British to stay in the EU. A referendum on the issue is due in two months.

The US president stated that fighting terrorism is more effective within the European Union. This is debatable – the EU allows freedom of movement within the 28-member organization. In itself, this encourages terrorism.

It should be noted that Switzerland is surrounded by the EU, but not a member and has not had one single terrorist incident.

It’s also true that the EU is not a security organization – NATO is. There is no suggestion that Britain leave NATO.

Thirdly, it has always been the case that foreign leaders do not interfere in elections in other countries. Is a new precedent being set here? Can Mr. Cameron now come over to Washington and tell Americans not to vote for Trump?

Having said that, President Kennedy over 50 years ago, encouraged the United Kingdom to join what is now the European Union. The reason is simple – Washington wants a reliable pro-American voice in the world’s biggest single market.

But how would Americans feel if they were part of an Americas Union, bringing all the nations of North and South America together in one bloc? Would they willingly take orders from Havana and Caracas? That’s exactly what the Brits are having to do as members of the EU. Some member countries have lost considerable financial independence, as they have to wait for orders from Berlin. Germany is the dominant power in the EU. The Union is a socialist bloc that tries to control every aspect of daily life. No wonder so many Brits want out. The president should stay out of the debate and leave it to the British people, who have to subsidize the organization from their taxes each and every day.

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The Obamas arrived in London on the Queen’s 90th birthday. They will be having lunch with her on Friday. The official reason for their visit is to honor the Queen. Mrs. Obama has expressed a desire to see the monarch’s grandchildren and great grandchildren. A family photo was released this week showing four generations of monarchs sitting together – Queen Elizabeth and future monarchs Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George. A similar picture was taken in the 1890’s of Queen Victoria with her oldest son, grandson and great-grandson (the future Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII).

No other British monarch has ever lived to be 90. Nor has any other monarch reigned as long as the Queen. The Queen’s marriage is also the longest ever royal marriage in history. It’s interesting to note that out of 40 monarchs, the three most prominent ones have all been women, Elizabeth I, Victoria and Elizabeth II.

Commentators on BBC World yesterday expressed the opinion that the Queen’s longevity and famous devotion to duty owes a great deal to three things – good health, strong faith and Prince Philip, who turns 95 in June. For the first time, a book on her faith is available for people to read. It’s title is The Servant Queen and the King She Serves. Hopefully, it will influence more of her subjects to reject the secular humanism that has brought so many evils into British society and look to Jesus Christ for solutions to their problems. This is equally true for Commonwealth countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

In contrast to most world leaders the Queen sees herself as a servant. She is no doubt familiar with the words of Jesus Christ who taught His disciples to be different to the leaders they saw around them.

”But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20: 25-28).

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Pat Buchanan has just written a column on “America’s Imperial Overstretch,” comparing the country’s present state to the last days of the British Empire. Most people today are unaware that when the British monarch was born, the British Empire was the greatest power in the world. At the start of her reign, Britain was still a very powerful country. One of its greatest strengths was the Royal Navy. Now, there are so few ships, there are none available to protect the Falkland Islands from Argentina. Nor are there any to defend Gibraltar. The governments of the two colonies took the unusual step earlier this month of issuing a joint statement reminding potential aggressors (Argentina and Spain) that the United Nations charter calls for the “self-determination of peoples.” The populations of both colonies want to remain British but Britain can’t or won’t defend them.

This is the future Americans have to look forward to – imperial decline on a massive scale.

Note Pat Buchanan’s comments:

“Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, this country has been steadily bled and slowly bankrupted. We are now as overextended as was the British Empire in the 1940s.

“And like that empire, we, too, are being challenged by nations that seek to enlarge their place in the sun — a resurrected Russia, China, Iran. And we are being bedeviled by fanatics who want us out of their part of the world, which they wish to remake according to the visions of their own faiths and ideologies. (“America’s Imperial Overstretch,” 4/14)

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President and Mrs. Obama arrived in England after visiting Saudi Arabia. It was clear the Saudis are upset with the United States. For decades the alliance between the two has been a cornerstone of US foreign policy. Now that the US is cuddling up to Shi’ite Iran, the Saudis feel betrayed. As one commentator put it – they don’t like playing the role of a rejected wife as the husband turns his attention to his new mistress, Tehran! Divorce, however, is not considered an option. It is also the case that many Saudis (maybe most) are more enamored with IS than the US!

On 9-11, I felt for sure that this would wake Americans up to the serious threat posed by Islam.

It didn’t.

The attacks came on a Tuesday. Three days later, the liberal Establishment had put together an inter-religious memorial service at the National Cathedral. Not an inter-denominational service, but an inter-religious service that included a Muslim imam, a Hindu priest, a Buddhist monk and a Jewish rabbi, as well as a Catholic priest.

I also remember reading, a few months later, that sales of the Koran had jumped significantly. Printing presses could not keep up with demand.

So it should not have come as a surprise that, seven years later, the country elected its first president with a Muslim name and definite Muslim connections.

The Obama Administration is staffed by a number of Muslims. Valerie Jarrett, the president’s chief adviser, is a Shi’ite Muslim from Iran; the head of the CIA, John Brennan, converted to Islam while in Saudi Arabia. There are others, too, in highly influential positions. It’s no wonder they are panicked at the thought of Donald Trump and his promise to suspend Islamic immigration.

Now, another seven years later, the same president has just declared that March every year will be Muslim History Month. Millions of dollars will be frivolously added to the national debt to pay for it. In the years to come, we will be hearing many lies, witnessing a re-write of American history, as Muslims did not contribute anything to America for the first 350 years (from 1607).

It should be noted that Muslim History Month follows Black History Month. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, that came to prominence in the 1960’s, would never have believed that this could happen. But it is happening, right before our eyes. The media will now follow with programs to show just how it was Islam, not protestant Europeans, that gave birth to this land and made it the most prosperous country in the world.

Fifteen years after James Town, the English settlers had less of a presence on American soil than Muslims do today, less than 15 years after 9-11.

Is there any wonder Americans are flocking to Trump?

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Muslims continue to dominate the news in other parts of the world.

Saudi Arabia has announced the creation of a 34-nation alliance of Sunni Muslims to fight terrorism. Before you jump for joy, keep in mind that ISIS and Al-Qaeda are also both Sunni Muslims, the latter staging 9/11. Members were heavily influenced by the Wahabbi sect of Islam, which is the official state religion of Saudi Arabia. They are the most extreme form of Islam. When mosques are built in western countries, they are often paid for by Saudi Arabia; after completion the country will generously send a Saudi Wahabbi Imam to the mosque to spread the faith. They also provide imams to work as chaplains in American prisons. These men work at converting prisoners and are paid by the Federal government.

When the Saudis were criticized for not taking in Muslim refugees during the mass migration to western Europe last summer, they “generously” declared that they would help by building 200 mosques in Germany, once again dispatching the imams needed.

And so we see the progressive spread of Islam into western democracies. Instead of embracing freedom, they will spread their pernicious religion, which means “submission” or “surrender,” the exact opposite of what America was.

Our children and our grandchildren will never forgive us!

Some Christians get excited about all this, believing that the Saudi led alliance is the prophesied “king of the south,” mentioned in Daniel chapter 11. Verses 40-44 show that immediately prior to Christ’s return, the “king of the south” pushes at the “king of the north” and the Holy Land gets invaded.

Let’s not be too hasty here to jump to conclusions.

Firstly, we should remember that the old “king of the south,” the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt, did not include Saudi Arabia or most of the other nations in alliance with Riyadh. The kingdom was ruled from Alexandria, the capital of ancient Egypt. Egypt is home to roughly 50% of all Arabs. Egypt is more likely to be the leader of the king of the south.

Saudi Arabia is still a prominent player in the Middle East. Another is Iran. These two countries are involved in proxy wars in both Yemen and Syria. Whereas the Saudis are mostly Sunni Muslims, the Iranians are Shi’ites. The two sects of Islam hate each other with a passion. You would have to go back to the Thirty Years War (1618 to 1648) to see anything comparable in the Christian world.

At least one church organization that emphasizes Bible prophecy has been claiming dogmatically for over twenty years that Iran is the King of the South. This is not very likely when you consider that Iran (formerly Persia) was a part of the King of the North prior to the Christian era. The biblical king of the North was ruled from Antioch to the north of Jerusalem.

The two powers, the kings of the south and of the north, both born out of the rubble of Alexander’s empire, regularly came to blows. Each time they did, Jerusalem, the epicenter of Bible prophecy, was negatively affected.

It is also highly unlikely that Shi’ite Iran will lead a Sunni alliance.

So, who are the “kings of the north” and of the “south”?

Maps give you a good idea.

The following maps are of the two powers about 200 years before Christ, a little over a century after the death of Alexander and the division of his empire.

Now look at this contemporary map, showing the worlds of Shia and Sunni Islam. The red shows Shia Islam which is basically the old King of the North plus territory to the east. Blue shows Sunni Islam which includes the territory once ruled by the King of the South.

October 15, 2015 by Rodrigo Silva

The West has been caught up in a growing Shia-Sunni conflict. We can’t be blamed for the animosity itself, as it began in the seventh century AD, but we must bear some responsibility for the rapid acceleration toward a major war between the two. Western intervention in Iraq 13 years ago led to the downfall of Sunni ruled Iraq and its replacement with Shia Iraq. This has led to the development of an arc of Shia Islam, comprising Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

The Shi’ites are now dominated by Iran. President Assad’s Syria is also led by Shi’ites, who also dominate Lebanon. This could all have been avoided if we’d known what we were doing, but we didn’t, so now we see the threat of major war between the two branches of Islam.

We still talk about democracy, but liberal democracy is irrelevant in the Middle East. Only Israel has a real democratic system.

This conflict is only going to get worse.

So, are Shia and Sunni Islam the kings of the north and south?

That’s certainly a possibility. But, in 60 BC, the King of the North fell to the Roman Empire. 29 years later, so did the King of the South when Cleopatra killed herself. After those two conquests, Judea and Samaria were also conquered by the Romans.

The two powers ceased to exist and are not mentioned again until “the time of the end.” Why do they suddenly appear again?

Remember that prophecy revolves around Israel. There was no Jewish nation from the time of the Roman Empire until it was restored in 1948. The lengthy prophecy in Daniel 11 is not about the kings of the north and south, so much as their impact on the Jewish people. Now that the Jewish people have been restored by God to their ancient homeland, any major threat to them from the North or South, or both, has once again become very relevant.

The principal threat right now is from Shia Islam. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has regularly warned the West about the threat from Iran. Events in Syria could also affect Israel. Shi’ite Hizbollah in Lebanon remains a constant threat.

As the US has turned against Israel, the country has been seeking closer working relationships with Sunni Islamic nations, like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. (I wrote about this recently in a blogpost.)

The Saudi alliance is looking at getting involved in Syria, ostensibly against ISIS, but likely more against Assad. A Saudi-led intervention there would partially fulfill the prophecy about the King of the South pushing against the King of the North. But it could also be a side-war, another proxy war between the two branches of Islam.

So, again, let’s not get too excited. A lot could still happen before we see the fulfillment of Daniel 11: 40-44.

“At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.” But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.

One thing is for sure and that is the need to watch the Middle East, as events there are often far more important than the events that get reported on our national news programs.

Adding to my sense of foreboding has been a couple of books I’ve been reading. Perhaps I should stop reading! Then I could stop thinking and become like lots of other people. It’s difficult, though, to watch hours of mindless drivel on television or at movie theaters when there are so many good books to read.

The books I’ve been reading are “The End of Byzantium” by Jonathan Harris and “Isabella” by Kirstin Downey. The latter is about the famous queen of Spain, but includes a long section on the fall of Byzantium and what followed.

Byzantium was the name of the Eastern Roman Empire, founded by Constantine the Great in the fourth century. It survived the fall of the (western) Roman Empire by a thousand years. Byzantium was the greatest power in Christendom during that period. Constantinople, its capital, was known as “the Queen of Cities.”

Yet it fell.

It fell to the Muslim Turks in 1453. It’s fall was as dramatic and interesting as the fall of Babylon to Persia in 539 BC. The consequences for both were dramatic.

Residents of both had considered their capitals impregnable. Most Americans and Britons today would describe their own countries similarly. After all, they have nuclear weapons. The US has the greatest military on earth.

But, as the falls of Babylon and Constantinople show, it doesn’t mean a thing! And, just as the “handwriting was on the wall” for Babylon (Daniel 5), so it is today for the West.

I went to see my primary doctor recently, shortly after San Bernardino. He couldn’t understand why so many people brought up in the United States could become “radicalized.” I know that Britons, Australians, Canadians and people in other western countries don’t understand this, either.

An article in yesterday’s Lansing State Journal called for more Muslim immigration into the US. The reasoning was simple – the more people from the Middle East who come here, the better, because they either go back enthused about the American way of life, or they stay here committed to America.

This is naïve thinking at best. At its worst, it’s downright dangerous.

Both my doctor and this writer represent 1960’s liberal thinking. They believe that our western way of life is superior and that anybody who moves to the West will naturally see things that way given a short period of time to adjust. And their children, naturally, will be just as committed to the American (or British) way of life as anybody else born here, embracing our liberal values.

This reasoning fails to understand that there is a major difference between Islam and the West – one means “submission” (or “surrender”), while the other believes in freedom. These two cannot be reconciled. Any child brought up in the former, while living in the latter, is inevitably going to be confused.

Why can’t people see that?

If they cannot grasp what is written above, then they can at least read some history and learn lessons from the past.

Note the following from “Isabella,” describing the fall of Christian Constantinople to the Muslim Turks. Don’t think this can’t happen again – it’s happening right now in the Middle East as Christians are being driven out by Muslims. After the fall of Byzantium, it happened to other European nations as the Muslims moved into the heart of Europe. Again, hundreds of thousands have moved into central Europe in the last few months.

(When I was on a tour of Turkey a few years ago, I asked our tour guide three times what happened to all the Christians when Constantinople fell to the Muslims. Three times, I failed to get an answer.)

“On the last day, a crowd of men, women, children, nuns and monks, “sought refuge” in Hagia Sophia . . . (the sixth century cathedral built by Justinian) . . . the Turks broke down the doors of the church with axes and dragged the congregants off to slavery. The statues of the saints were smashed; church vessels were seized. “Scenes of unimaginable horror ensued,” historian Franz Babinger writes.”

“The Turkish soldiers killed four thousand in the siege and enslaved almost the entire population of the city. They plundered the churches, the imperial palace, and the homes of the rich, and they did considerable damage to much of the city’s fabled architecture . . . unique and rare classical manuscripts were torn apart for the value of their bindings and thrown into the garbage.” (“Isabella”, page 172, 2014)

“By the end of 1459, all of Serbia had fallen under their control. About 200,000 Serbs were enslaved by the Turks…..Soon, he (Mehmed, the sultan) attacked the city of Gardiki, in Thessaly, killing all 6,000 inhabitants, including women and children. He had accepted the surrender without struggle of the Genoese colony of Amasra, on the Black Sea coast, where he enslaved two-thirds of the population.” (p. 175)

ISIS continues to treat Christians the same way. There was, and is, no respect for other religions.

In the fifth century, the Roman Empire was invaded by barbarians (non-Romans). This is a reason they no longer exist. Spain itself was overrun by Muslims in the eighth century, a reason why Isabella took the stand she did centuries later. When the Holy Land fell to the Muslims, it was necessary for the West to intervene to enable pilgrims to travel there safely. After Constantinople fell, the West was in shock, rather as it would be if the United States fell.

The historian Niall Ferguson wrote after Paris that the West has the feel of Rome about it, that we are in danger of falling the same way; conservative columnist Mark Steyn wrote that “the barbarians are at the gate, and there is no gate!” – a reference to the fact that Angela Merkel and others are welcoming the invaders.

There clearly are genuine and justified concerns about allowing more Muslims into western countries. Just yesterday, the BBC has reported that Germany has been shocked by how many German women were sexually assaulted and even raped over New Years, a direct result of the recent surge in immigration from the Middle East and North Africa.

TV reporters and those who write for newspapers advocating more immigrants are clearly ignorant of history. They endanger all of our lives.

Reporting right now is focused on the growing Saudi-Iranian conflict, a continuation of the 1400-year-old struggle between Sunni and Shia Islam. Neither can respect the other. They just want to kill those who believe differently from themselves. We can see it clearly when looking at the two branches of Islam – why do the same reporters find it so difficult to see the threat Islam poses to Christians and secularists in the West?

Christians for centuries have prayed “Thy Kingdom Come” (Matt 6:10) as Jesus Christ taught us to do in His model prayer. Never has the need for that kingdom been greater. Only He can put an end to false religion and the religious confusion that threatens the end of our civilization.

Yesterday (Monday) I read an article, which stated with great certainty that the US has been better at assimilating Muslims than European countries. I also read a separate article in USA Today, which quoted the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, claiming that “New York City has the strongest, most agile, best-trained first responders in the world. They’re ready to protect us.”

These are just the latest examples of hubris, which is defined as “excessive pride, or self-confidence, arrogance.”

When it comes to assimilation, I am reminded of a conversation I witnessed on British television one Sunday morning a few years ago. People of African descent who had lived in both the United Kingdom and the United States were discussing this very issue. All the participants said they felt more comfortable and more assimilated in the UK than the US.

This may or may not be true of Muslims. My concern here is that Americans should be very careful in making such assumptions, that we cannot say for sure and that, really, it doesn’t make any difference. We are just as threatened by Islamic terrorism as the Europeans. Whether the US responders do a better job remains to be seen. FWIW, France (and Canada) are the two countries that top the World Health Organization’s list of best medical systems. The US ranks at #37. When it comes to saving lives, Paris is one of the best places to be.

When it comes to fighting ISIS, there’s a great deal of hubris right now. Once again, the entertainment industry is partly to blame – it’s not just James Bond that defeats the world’s greatest evils; Americans have been doing it for decades.

Or, have we?

More than fourteen years after 9-11, Al-Qaeda is still killing people. The hotel attack in Bamako was perpetrated by an al-Qaeda affiliate.

The US has been in Afghanistan for the same length of time (longer than the Russians were there) and there is no end in sight. In fact, the situation is worse in that ISIS now operates there, along with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Iraq continues with daily conflict. The immediate goal of overthrowing Saddam Hussein was achieved by the western coalition, but the resultant mess just goes on and on. The Iraqi conflict gave birth to ISIS, another problem that seems likely to go on and on. And, if they are ever defeated, there will be other Islamic extremists to replace them.

Proverbs 16:18 says that: “Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.”

I quoted Niall Ferguson a few days ago. He showed the similarities between what is happening now and what happened to the Roman Empire in its last days – the barbarians are at the gates. Indeed, they are within the gates thanks to the West having the most myopic immigration policies in the history of mankind.

The West has lived through a period that might be called the Pax Americana, a peace guaranteed by the United States since the end of World War II.

But the US has not had a decisive victory since World War II, when the global conflict was won by the three great powers, the British Empire (which fought the war from 1939-1945), the Soviet Union (which was forced into war six months before the US) and the United States. The US could not have done it alone.

Korea ended up a stalemate, a burden still carried on the backs of the US tax-payer. Vietnam was lost. At the time, there was plenty of hubris. Who would have thought, in 1965, that the US could lose to North Vietnam?

The next major conflict was the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91. The immediate goal of driving Iraq out of Kuwait was achieved, but Saddam lived to fight another day, literally. And, as I said, the mess goes on and on.

Americans are fond of saying that the US military is the best in the world and that the country spends ten times as much on its military as the next biggest spender. That may be true, but it’s misleading. In World War II, for every US soldier actually fighting, there were 60 people employed in support roles; for the British it was 45 to 1; for the Germans, 20 to 1. Efficiency varies.

Additionally, US military personnel are paid more than those of other countries, so the dollar amount spent is not saying much.

Besides, the greatest threat now is Islamic terrorism, not a professional national army. The “armies” that brought down Rome were barbaric, wild tribes, the Huns, the Vandals and, ultimately, the Arabs. We’re faced with a similar enemy, but making it worse, our enemy is also “within.” Let’s remember, the Babylonian Empire fell because two men betrayed it! It only took two men to bring down the greatest empire in the world at that time.

The analogy with Babylon is apt in another way, too. Babylon’s period of ascendancy lasted a little over seventy years, from the defeat of Assyria in 612 BC to its own defeat at the hands of the Persians in 539. Super powers have great difficulty maintaining dominance over a longer period. The Romans and the British were two exceptions, but countries simply burn out after 70 years. The US is burning out, showing great reluctance to take on the growing threats to its own dominance.

It’s predecessor as global superpower number one was Great Britain. Britain simply went broke. The US is similarly broke, with a national debt of roughly 20 trillion dollars. How much longer can the country lead the fight against anything? ISIS is the wealthiest terror group ever, while the US is now penny pinching.

There’s a third lesson, too, from ancient Assyria and Babylon. The former invaded the ten tribes of Israel, taking the people away as slaves. The latter, Babylon, more than a century later, conquered the Jews and took them as slaves to Babylon. The Old Testament prophets show that these nations were conquered because of their sins.

In a statement after the Paris terror attacks, ISIS said it attacked Paris because it’s a “sinful city, full of perversions.” This does not mean that ISIS is made up of righteous people, any more than ancient Assyria or Babylon were. But it does mean that many Muslims, appalled at the liberal values of the West, will naturally flock to ISIS.

In this sense, our own permissiveness works against us and is contributing to the violent acts being perpetrated by the terrorists.

But people in the West have hardened their hearts when it comes to God. When the Church of England prepared a cinema ad promoting the Lord’s prayer, cinemas refused to show it; when the hashtag “#pray for Paris” appeared on Twitter following the Paris attacks, one French publication told people supporting the sentiment that their prayers were not welcome; that France doesn’t want religion!

Some asked where was God when Paris was attacked? The answer can be found in Isaiah 59:2. “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” Isaiah was preaching to a nation that had known God, but rejected Him.

There are similarities with the western world of today. We should avoid hubris, clean up our act, and turn to the true God if we are to have any hope of defeating Islamic extremism.

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Pope Francis (R) during their meeting at the Vatican March 27, 2014. Obama’s first meeting on Thursday with Pope Francis was expected to focus on the fight against poverty and skirt moral controversies over abortion and gay rights.

The Founding Fathers of the United States could not have imagined such a scene ever taking place in this country.

The scene was played out this morning on the White House lawn. The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, together with a US president of African heritage with a Muslim father and other definite Muslim connections.

Whereas the US was 98% Protestant at its founding, today there are arguably only two faiths that matter – Catholicism and Islam.

Certainly, these are the only two that dominate news headlines.

Just a few days ago, the leading Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump was asked a question by a man who believed that President Obama is a Muslim. Because he did not correct the man, it is assumed he believes the same way and he has been greatly criticized for it. Of course, if there’s nothing wrong with Islam, why should anybody get upset if described as being Muslim!

A day or two later, Ben Carson, another Republican candidate, a quiet, reserved and respectful man who is a double minority, both black and a Seventh Day Adventist Christian, was asked what he thought of having a Muslim president. He was not in favor of it and has since been accused of racism!

Fifty years ago, when Senator Edward Kennedy sponsored the bill, which became the new immigration law, he said Americans would not see any noticeable change in the fabric of the country. Here we are five decades later in a very different religious landscape thanks to that immigration act.

It doesn’t take a Donald Trump or a Ben Carson for Islam to make the news every day. Migrants moving into Europe from the Middle East and Africa underline the dysfunctionality of Islamic countries, racked with ethnic, ideological and religious strife. Under international law, when people flee one country they should register for refugee status in the first country they come to; but international laws are being broken every day as people push their way through borders and barriers toward their number one goal, Germany or Sweden. None seems to want to go to any oil rich Arab country, which speaks the same language. One migrant made it clear when he said: “Europeans have more compassion!”

That compassion stems from Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant. For centuries, monks and nuns provided the only hospital care available for travelers and locals alike. They also provided food and drink to the poor.

Yes, Christianity and Islam are very different. Only the Hungarian leader, Viktor Orban, seems to be pointing that out, saying his country does not want the migrants. Hungary suffered for almost two centuries under Islamic rule, so it’s not surprising that they don’t want Muslims back. Mr. Orban has said that the massive movement of migrants into the country threatens the nation’s Christian heritage. For this realistic comment, he is being condemned by the emotional majority more influenced by television images of people pushing further into Europe.

It is doubtful the enthusiasm for Muslim immigrants will last long. Then what?

Catholicism and Islam have clashed repeatedly throughout history – and could do so again. People in the West have largely forgotten this past history or don’t care. But that’s not the case in the Islamic world where the term “crusaders” is often used to describe westerners, a reference to the Crusades between Catholic Europe and the forces of Islam that began in 1095 and lasted for two centuries.

There were other less famous clashes between the two. In the eighth century Muslims invaded Spain and France, until they were defeated in 732 by Charles Martel. His grandson Charlemagne was still fighting the North African invaders decades later. After the Crusades ended, there were other clashes as the Ottoman Turks advanced westward, conquering islands in the Mediterranean and moving fairly rapidly into the heart of Europe.

The historic rivalry between Rome and the Islamic world will likely be a part of the prophesied clash between the King of the North and King of the South in the last verses of the Book of Daniel, chapter 11. Earlier this year the leaders of ISIS threatened to invade Rome and kill the pope.

Islam has certainly succeeded in dividing the West in the early years of this century, as both Americans and Europeans hold different opinions on how best to deal with the migrant crisis. Some are fearful about security while others just want to help, not realizing there are a number of rich Arab countries, which could take the Syrians in. Not all the migrants are Syrians – a British newspaper revealed last Saturday that only 1 in 5 migrants is a Syrian refugee. The others are economic migrants and could be sent home under international law.

Is this the end of western civilization, as Mr. Orban fears? That’s not likely. What is more likely is that westerners will change their thinking when they experience the reality of greater numbers of Muslims. Anti-immigrant parties are likely to come to power, promising to do something to restore their countries to what they were.

Islam means “submission,” In spite of denials by national news presenters, this makes the religion incompatible with the US Constitution, which is based on freedom. And just as Islam is incompatible with freedom, so is Roman Catholicism, a religion that dominated Western Europe for over a thousand years, until the Protestant Reformation introduced an element of religious freedom. It was English Protestants who founded James Town and Protestants of mostly British descent who founded the United States. Today’s Protestants seem to have very little influence in the country, a fact that increasingly threatens religious freedom.

What we saw today on the White House lawn was, in a sense, a profile of three religions – Catholicism, represented by the Pope; Islam, represented by the American son of a Muslim Kenyan father; and Protestantism, represented by the White House itself, the US Constitution, and the soldiers in early American uniforms.

So much is happening across the globe right now, it’s difficult to know where to start.

It’s Monday morning and the world news is dominated by further falls on stock markets across Asia and Europe. China’s economy is heading south fast and is dragging other countries down with it. As the country is the second biggest single economy in the world, it’s not surprising.

It’s not that long ago that China was a third world backwater. Then, the communist dictatorship allowed free market reforms that led to an incredibly fast growth rate. Too fast. And suspiciously fast – could the numbers be trusted? Now, we know the truth – the reality is not what we thought it was. Millions of Chinese people are losing their life savings and are naturally angry about it. If this continues, the Chinese people may conclude the ruling Communist party has “lost the mandate of heaven,” a precursor to significant change.

But change could also come elsewhere as a result of what’s going on.

The average American lost 6% of his retirement fund towards the end of last week. 6% isn’t too bad. But if this fall continues, people will get more angry and frustrated. It can only help Donald Trump’s presidential hopes.

Note the following from today’s The Daily Skimm:

“Last week, after some bad economic data from China, global stock markets completely freaked out. US markets ended up with their worst losses in four years. And today isn’t looking any better. China’s markets opened even weaker than yesterday, which has triggered a global domino effect. Think: Asian and European markets taking tumbles and oil prices way down.

“Right now, the ups and downs of global markets are hinging on two of the least transparent things ever: the Chinese government and the Federal Reserve.”

It’s time to worry!

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It’s 8.20 AM Eastern time. I just received a news alert from the Wall Street Journal. The headline is: GLOBAL MARKET ROUT CONTINUES. Stock markets continue to fall around the world.

It’s a good reminder that we should not put our faith in this world and particularly in this world’s money, which is, frankly, worthless paper.

In Matthew 6:19-20 Jesus Christ said the following:

19: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Our retirement funds are certainly set to take a big hit, though how big remains to be seen. Christians should take encouragement from Christ’s words and not worry as we go through this market “correction.”

It’s now 9.45, the New York Stock Exchange opened a few minutes ago, and we seem to be witnessing a big crash. The stock exchange is down over 1,000 points, heading rapidly toward a “correction,” usually defined as a drop of 10% or more. The dollar is also falling against other currencies. Commentators are saying that this crash started with China, but blame should also go to the high taxes and anti-business policies of the current US Administration. One lady said: “They’ve killed the economy!” Meanwhile, China is using the state pension fund to buy stocks in a hope of keeping up prices, an unwise move that could wipe out pensions for decades.

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It’s really inspiring to hear that three young Americans on vacation in Europe helped save a train full of passengers from an imminent terrorist attack. Today’s news shows them receiving the “Legion d’Honneur” from France’s President Hollande.

But, you will notice there’s another guy standing with them, an older man who was also part of the rescue. The much-praised trio was actually a quartet. The other man was from England. It would be nice if just one American network would acknowledge his role along with the three Americans. All four were very courageous and may have saved dozens of lives!

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In this age of mass murders, it’s interesting to note that America, with less than 5% of the world’s people, accounts for almost one third of all mass murders, defined as incidents where four or more people are killed.